If Only For A Little While
by Kay-chan97
Summary: A mother and son are finally reunited after being separated for more than 2 thousand years.


**This story is loosely based on a writing prompt.**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

The Morgans just moved into their new home in London, Harry Morgan had just been promoted to work in another location of the same company in London, the pay was excellent so both Harry and his wife Anna couldn't possibly pass up the offer. They found a lovely home in a great neighborhood where their son Colin could play happily with all the neighborhood kids that were always outside. Even the school Colin will now be attending was close by enough to walk to and their curriculum is superb. They knew that they had made the right decision when they moved here, there was something about the place that made it seem that anything was possible. Harry's company is giving him a paid leave for a week to settle before he officially starts working in the new location. Even Anna who had to quit her job as a baker will be taking a lot of time off before looking for work so they could finish moving into the house.

"What do you think about the new house son?" Harry asked his boy as he was looking out the car window.

Colin looked at the house in awe, "It's so big dad! There must be so many hiding places!"

Anna laughed, "yes Colin but no hide in seek today okay, I'm going to need help unpacking the boxes, do you think you can be mommies little helper and help me unpack."

Colin launched to his mother who was in the front passenger seat smiling happily as he yelled, "yes mommy! I'm gonna be the best helper I promise! And I'm super tough so I can open all the boxes no problem just like dad!"

Anna and Harry laughed at their son's enthusiasm as Harry patted his son's head happily, "I'm sure you'll do an awesome job son and you'll get a special reward for being an awesome helper."

Colin gasped, "really? A surprise! Mommy, mommy lets go! We gotta start unpacking!" Colin pressured as he urged his mother to get out of the car so she could open the door for him, knowing that the doors won't open no matter how hard he tries.

Anna smiled at Harry before stepping out, "alright sweetie now let's go open the doors for the movers so we can get unpacking alright," she said as she opened the door for her son who immediately bolted from the car and to the front of the house, yelling all the while for his mother to hurry up.

Harry watched for a moment with a big loving smile on his face as he watched his family walk up to the house that they will now be moving in to, they had worried for a while that Colin might not like the new house but seeing him so excited and his wife so happy he knew that he made the right decision.

Anna opened the front door as she greeted the movers who started to bring in some boxes once the door opened, Colin noticed that his father hadn't gotten out of the car before waving at him to hurry up, "come on dad! You have to help too!"

Harry chuckled as he turned off the car then got out so he can help the movers, the faster he gets this done the faster they can get to the rest of their lives.

It took most of the day to get all of the boxes and furniture from the truck it wasn't until near sundown that the truck was finally empty, Harry almost thought for a moment that maybe they would have to keep bringing in everything the next day. Oh boy, was he happy that it was finally over, he walked the men out the door, tipping them for their troubles then going inside to help his wife in the kitchen, they nearly got all the kitchen supplies put away and placed in their proper place. It was starting to get late and it was almost time for bed so they had Colin go shower and get ready for bed since he will be starting his first day at his new school tomorrow. "Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" Colin asked tiredly as he lay on his frameless mattress that Harry will put together before Colin gets home from school.

"Yes sweetie it's important that you go to school. Now off to dreamland dear," Anna said as she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Colin tried to battle his eyes to stay open, "...surprise?" he asked softly which sounded so adorable coming from a six-year-old.

Harry chuckled, "don't worry son you did an amazing job today. I'll give you your surprise tomorrow when you get home from school okay," he said as he rubbed his hair softly.

That seemed to have done it when finally his eyes closed and all that could be heard was gentle snoring, Harry and Anna looked at each other smiling lovingly at one another before getting up and leaving the room so their son can sleep in peace.

The next day Anna woke early to get Colin ready for school she thought it would be best to walk him there since Harry will be taking the car to go to the store to get some supplies, he realized on accident when he tried to plug in a lamp and had confirmed that the outlet did not work to which concluded that there was some bad wiring that needed to be fixed. But other than that it would be a great idea for Colin to get to know the neighborhood and get used to it since someday Colin would be walking to school by himself since the school continued on until high school.

Anna walked him to the elementary portion of the school when she suddenly felt a tug at her shirt, she looked down to see her son looking a bit apprehensive, "what's wrong sweetie? I thought you were excited to go to school."

Colin looked at the playground that all the kids were playing at before looking up at his mother, "do you think they will like me, mommy?"

Her heart broke when she saw how concerned and fearful he was as he looked at all the children on the playground, she bent down to his level and gave him a sweet hug, "of course they are going to like you how could they not? You are the sweetest boy that I have ever met I'm sure before you know it they are all going to be your friends."

He looked unsure as he gripped at her shirt, "you think so?"

She giggled as she pulled away to look him in the eye, "I know so," she stated as she tickled him to which he giggled merrily, "now there's my happy boy. Now, why don't you go out there and give it a shot."

Colin looked determined as he gave her a kiss on the cheek before running to the playground stopping by the slides as two boys were playing with toy trucks, Anna watched as her son introduced himself and from what she sees one of the boys offers one of his toy trucks. Colin had a beaming smile as he turned to her to show her the toy he held before turning back to his new friends that she was sure she was going to hear all about when they walk home together after school.

So happy that her son was happy she went back home to continue with some unpacking.

When she finally got home she was feeling a bit tired after being out for some time, she went into the kitchen to drink some water and take a breather before unpacking again when she heard the front door open.

"Harry? I thought you were going to be a while before you got home?" but there was no response Anna was confused why her husband wasn't responding to her and then she thought to herself that maybe she imagined it when the front door closed.

She got up immediately from her chair in the kitchen her heart speeding a mile a minute as fear filled her heart, "Harry is that you? It's not funny, say something!"

Then loud footsteps made their way to the kitchen when Anna finally came to the conclusion that this person wasn't her husband but was some intruder. She ran to the drawer where she had placed all the utensils the night before and pulled out a large kitchen knife.

The footsteps were like loud bombs that went off in her heart sounding louder and louder the closer they got. She was shaking with her hands trembling around the knife that she had to grip tightly before she dropped it.

Then suddenly a man appeared wearing a black cloak that covered his face except for a bit of his stubbled chin with an old tattered shoulder bag hanging around his shoulders, he held a light brown staff that curled at the tip in his left hand.

Anna started gasping for breath fear encasing her as she tried to give a demand for this man to leave her home but the words wouldn't come then the man moved his head up revealing very golden eyes as he smiled sadly at her, "I'm home Mother." Then he began to chant a strange language that Anna had no hope of understanding, she felt more trapped than ever feeling like a trapped animal with her only desire was to get out of here and go find her husband that she charged at the stranger readying herself to stab him. But he stood still and during his chant, his staff began to glow and just before she could land a blow the energy from the staff shot at her hitting her square in the chest.

Once in contact, she felt so incredibly weak that she nearly fell to the floor but the stranger simply held out his arms and grabbed her before she could, then he gently kneeled on the floor as he held her with such gentleness that was almost comforting. She took one last look at the stranger to see golden eyes turn to a lovely shade of blue that was beginning to be filled with tears, she absolutely adored the shade and something inside her told her that she had seen those eyes somewhere before. And it broke her heart to see him in such pain.

Then before the darkness took her with her mind in a daze a single word slipped from her lips before she could register what it could mean, "Merlin?"

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When Anna woke again, no wait when Hunith woke again she was laying on the couch with her son that she had not seen since he came to Ealdor for the last time after the death of his king, sitting in a chair that he must have taken from the living room with his face in his hands that rested on his knees. She saw that his shoulders were shaking and she knew instantly that he was crying, tears fell as she sat up and reached for her long-lost son, "oh my boy, my sweet Merlin," she smiled tearfully at him when his head snapped up and stared at her with such longing that she had to stop the sob in her throat at the pure longing and agony in his eyes.

"Mother!" Merlin sobbed as he threw himself at her something that he had not done since he was a child as he cried in her arms, "I'm so sorry Mother! So sorry!"

This time she couldn't fight it as she sobbed just as enthusiastically as the closure that she didn't know she needed filled her chest, for years she worried about the fate of her son, she did not know if he had died or was sick and suffering and not even Gaius had known where he had gone. She worried to the point that she got sick, Gaius had done all he could for her but she had died praying for her son to come through those physician's doors as she spent the rest of her days bedridden.

"Oh how I have missed you, my boy, I thought about you every day, never had there been a day where I didn't think of you. Where had you gone, Merlin? Why didn't you come home," Hunith sobbed, clutching her son closer to her chest.

Merlin shook his head in her shoulder as he sobbed again, "I was so lost for so long Mother that I couldn't find my way home and by the time I could there was no home to go back to. I am so sorry Mother for making you worry for so long, you must think ill of me."

Hunith pushed her son so she could look at him in the eyes that she adored the moment the midwife placed him in her arms, "Never! Never say such things! I will never think such ill thoughts about my son, my only regret was that I could not help you in your time of need. I knew something was wrong and I should have made you stay! Should have shown that I could have helped you, I knew that you were hurting since Arthur," Merlin winced at the mention of his fallen king, "but I should have made sure that you knew that you were still welcome at home. You must have felt so alone, you must have been alone for so long, at least I had Gaius by my side during my passing but you, gods know who was with you! Oh my sweet boy," she whimpered as she caressed his cheek with her thumb as she stared deeply into his eyes.

He chuckled as he grabbed her hands within his, "you don't have to worry about that Mother, I didn't die alone," he said smiling sadly.

She smiled happily tightening her grip on his hands, "Oh Merlin tell about your life now? How did you grow up? Where do you live? And though I hate to think that you have another Mother, how is she? Does she take care of you as she should? How did you remember? If she is not taking care of you then I have no problem of marching down there and-"

Merlin chuckled shaking their hands up and down to get her attention as another tear fell down his face, "you want to know how I grew up?" she nodded in excitement though confused as to why he was still so emotional. He nodded as if to prepare himself taking a deep breath then nodded again, "I grew up in a small farming town where I lived with my mother whom I loved with all my heart, I never knew my father but my mother did all she could to raise me and she did an incredible job."

Hunith smiled happily though a little sad knowing that yet again her son had to live another life without a father figure but it made her feel envious of this new mother that he has now. She remembered all their happy times in Ealdor and how happy they were together, she missed those times more than anything now that she finally remembers.

"I was born with magic that I couldn't control so when I was 16 my mother sent me away to live with an old friend of hers who happens to be my mother's older brother."

Hunith frowned in confusion, "Merlin what are yo-" she began because now this was starting to sound familiar but was interrupted.

"I was meant to study under my uncle so I can have better control over my magic when I met a very arrogant man who happened to be my destiny because a mystical creature told me so."

Tears were filling her eyes, "Merlin-"

"I stayed by that mans side for 10 years protecting him and helping him to be a better man but in the end, he died in my arms, no matter how much power I had I couldn't save him," Merlin stated bowing his head taking a deep breath before staring his mother in the eyes. "I was lost for a long time and before I realized how lost I truly was I decided to go back home but only to realize that my once farming village had long since disappeared from any map. I realized that I was alone I wandered around for a bit just existing as things changed all around me. So many changes I didn't know how to keep up with them so I went away again to take a break from all of it."

"Merlin stop it! You are not making any sense! I asked how your life was here not you're life from back then!" Hunith exclaimed, feeling an aching pain in her chest to know how much her son had suffered from back then.

"Mother," Merlin said softly so full of sadness, "there isn't anything else to say. There is nothing new that you don't already know."

Hunith was severely confused and frustrated that her son was speaking in rhymes and not giving her a straight answer, "Merlin please understand that the life you lived is over, you shouldn't have to be holding on to this pain anymore. You have a new life with new opportunities to live the life that I couldn't give you! If I were your mother now I know that I would be upset that you're trying to replace me with an older version from the past and even though I love you to the moon and back I would be happy to never hear from you again knowing you're living the life that you couldn't before. You're young Merlin! Go to parties and make friends find a pretty girl to settle down with, have children and live happily knowing you are putting the past behind you!"

Merlin shook his head, "I can't do that."

"And why not!?"

Merlin sighed, "you said you wanted to know more about my life didn't you, let me finish the story and I'll tell you why I can't."

Hunith sighed in frustration before nodding for him to continue.

Merlin nodded back before swallowing and taking hold of Hunith's hand holding onto it firmly, "after Arthur died I was a mess I didn't know what to do with myself I thought that I had failed at the one thing that I was supposed to do, my destiny was to protect him and I failed. Kilgarrah the dragon that told me about my destiny that one day Arthur will come back and unite all of Albion and all I have to do was wait for him so I did. First I said goodbye to everyone I loved including you," Merlin said squeezing her hand affectionately, "then I stayed by the lake where Arthur was buried thinking that one day he would walk out of the water and scold me for being cold because of how wet he was."

Merlin took a moment to breath getting a little emotional, Hunith silently gave her support by placing her free hand over the hand that was holding hers giving it a slight squeeze reassuring him that he can take his time.

"I honestly don't know how long I stayed by that lake just waiting for a long time and before I knew it more than 200 years had passed."

That very statement knocked the wind out of her chest as she stared at him in pure shock, "what?"

"It was rather devastating at first but after 500 years I finally got used to it and accepted that this was what the dragon had meant when he said to wait, I prayed every day that he would come out of the damn lake already so all my waiting would be for something as if me waiting around brings some meaning to my existence but there was nothing. After 2,433 years there was still no sign of him and I fear that I have begun to lose hope that he will ever come back and that my waiting was a punishment all along. I was starting to go mad for a while when I saw a woman in a market place that resembled so heavily to my deceased mother that I cornered her in her home and used a spell to bring back her past memories. And now I'm telling that same woman my entire life story," he laughed sounding a bit mad when he looked very worried as he looked to her for her reaction and was nearly panicking when she just sat there in stunned silence.

Hunith was filled with so many racing thoughts, 'how can that be possible? I don't - I can't! No no no no no no! This can't be true!' she had no idea what to do with all this new information that the only thing she could get out was, "but you said you didn't die alone," she whispered, shaking as the fear, anguish, anger and so much more crashed through her body.

Merlin nodded smiling reassuringly but she could see the overwhelming sadness swirling behind those beautiful blue eyes that she adored the very moment he was born. "Mother it's true no matter how you look at it. I didn't die alone because I never died," he shrugged. At that moment she didn't see her grown son but the little boy that she used to hold at night whenever he was too scared to sleep by himself because of his nightmares. She sees her little boy broken by the world, crushed under all the weight of their expectations, her little boy was trapped in a never-ending nightmare that she couldn't save him from and it terrified her to no end. It hurt her more than ever that she couldn't save the one person she loved more than anything besides her other son Colin whom she loved equally.

"Oh my son!" she cried as she threw herself into his chest, "my beautiful son! If I had known I wouldn't-" she sobbed for a long time holding onto him tightly.

Merlin chuckled as he rocked her trying to calm his wailing mother as small tears fell from his eyes, "no matter my future I'm glad you sent me to Camelot. I will never regret my time there no matter how long I have to wait. And just seeing you makes the wait bearable now I can continue on knowing I still have your love."

She pulled away and grabbed his face staring into his eyes with a serious look, "never doubt how much I love you, my son. I love you so much! And I am so proud of you for making it this far! Because you are strong! You are brave and resourceful! You are the best version of me and your father always had been. And if your father was with us now he would say the same!" Merlin closed his eyes sobbing as he put his forehead against hers allowing himself to absorb all the love that he hadn't known he craved through the years.

"I love you, Merlin, never doubt how much your mother loves you," she said suddenly feeling tired as her eyes began to fall, "what is..." she slurred as her vision began to blur and her body heavy as Merlin laid her down on the couch.

Merlin sighed, "don't worry mother you just overexerted yourself that's all. Just go to sleep mother you'll feel better once you wake, I promise," he whispered petting her hair back.

She grabbed tightly at his hand as she held it tightly in her grasp, "you'll be here when I wake won't you?" she asked suddenly scared that once she woke she will never see her son ever again.

He smiled gently as he nodded, "don't worry mother, I'll always watch over you."

Hunith smiled as she allowed her eyes to finally close, "I love you, Merlin."

"I love you too," he responded sounding sad but before she could address it she had already fallen under.

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When she woke Anna was confused as to why she was napping on the couch and tried to remember how she had gotten here when she remembered that she was so tired from working all day that she went to take a nap on the couch. But a sudden wave of sadness went through her as she looked around the room as if expecting someone to be there with her though she couldn't figure out who it was that she was looking for.

Then when she noticed the time on her watch, she realized that her son was almost done with school and so she dismissed it immediately as she went to get her things. She could hear her husband working in the other room as she called out to him to let him know that she was leaving before leaving the house.

But if she had taken the time to notice she would have seen the man in strange clothing watching her down the street with a sad expression before disappearing into thin air as he turned to leave.

2 years later

The Morgans were on summer vacation exploring the sights of the city as they spent the entire day going to museums, restaurants, and even an aquarium. They were all rather tired so they decided to spend a quiet evening at the park as Anna sat happily on a bench watching as her husband and son played together on the slide when something caught her attention in the corner of her eye.

She saw a rather handsome man sitting on a park bench watching everyone with a rather bewildered and cautious gaze as he watched everyone around him looking very tense. He was blonde with a red jacket, blue jeans, and white sneakers that looked a little tight on him but seemed loose enough to be a little comfortable. When a man with raven hair came from behind holding two ice cream cones giving the blonde his own before beginning to eat his own the blonde instantly calmed when he saw the other man returned. The blonde seemed to be curious about the ice cream as licked it cautiously before pulling back to stare at the other man with a look of amazement before hurrying to eat his. The raven-haired smiled wide eating his slowly as he said something that she couldn't hear but it must have not been nice with the withering look the blonde was sending him which caused the raven-haired to laugh. Then suddenly the blonde stopped eating to put his hand on his head and she could tell that he was having a brain freeze because of the pain that flashed on his face that caused her to wince because that's never fun.

Then the raven-haired threw his head back to laugh loudly so loud that she could actually hear a sliver of it over all the commotions in the park and continued to laugh as the blonde was obviously scolding him.

_I'm so happy._

A voice said confusing Anna and before she could analyze it further her husband called out to her.

"Anna are you okay?" Harry asked concerned, she jumped not even realizing that her husband had approached her.

"Yes of course. Why do you ask?" Anna asked confused.

"You're crying love, are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

She smiled as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "yes I'm fine, I'm just really happy is all. But don't worry about me, you should be more worried about your son," she said as she pointed to her son trying to do some sort of stunt on the monkey bars. Harry looked over to where she was pointing and suddenly went pale as he ran over to their son.

She then turned back to look at the men when she saw them walking away hand in hand together out of the park as the two bantered together the two looking very happy. Just watching made her fill with overwhelming happiness as her eyes continued to stray over to the one raven hair and she continued to watch until the two were out of sight, wiping away the rest of her tears as she went to go play with her family.

_Now you'll never be lonely again. _

_I love you, my son._

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**Hey, everyone, thank you guys for reading and I hope you liked it!**

**Also a quick explanation of the spell that Merlin cast on Anna/Hunith is a soul spell that allows the previous life to temporarily take over the body for a short period of time before the new life finally comes back to take its place.**

**Another thing is that Merlin pretty much put all the things away for Anna/Hunith since the spell really tiring for the person who is being spelled and he changed Harry's memory as well as. Giving him false memories of seeing Anna working in the house and also giving Anna fake memories of working as well. **

**This is just to give her time to rest.**

**I hope that covers everything!**

**So please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

**See ya!**


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